First Cross Country By: Kevin Christner Posted: July 27 2002
“I’m telling you Kevin. The lift is booming NOW and you’d better get going,” says J.J. “Yah, I’m sure. It’s probably like the other days where I’ll end up on the ground in ten minutes.” “Try it, you’re going to stay up today.” “O.K., I’m going to try and go somewhere then.” “You little devil,” he quirks back. I make my checks. Water. Map, complete with the 5 and 10-mile circles I had drawn. Cell phone. Altimeter is set. I am ready to go. This is your first try at cross-country flight. The sweat drips down your forehead. This is it. I’m hooked to the tow plane. The engine winds up. Towed aloft by JJ in the Pawnee, I hear the constant drone. This is the unpleasantly you must endure for the peacefulness of soaring flight. At 1500 feet about the ground, the vario pegs out. Pop, I’m off tow. Wow, four knots up and its only 11:30. Too bad there are no clouds in the sky today. JJ circles with me in the tow plane. “You finding lift Kevin?” he says. “Yah, it’s great, six knots now,” I reply. “See, I told you, good luck,” he returns. Within minutes I’m at 4000 ft. Jamestown Airport is in the bag. I set out. All of a sudden I see six, eight knots down. Jamestown is getting lower and lower. I don’t have it any more. I need lift. None materializes. I’m three miles out and have lost 1500 ft. I turn searching for lift. I see the K7 in lift two miles behind me, so I turn around. I arrive at 1800 ft. and slowly catch up with the K7 that Tom is flying. Finally we both reach the top of the thermal. I’m only 3000 ft. above the ground now but I can try for Jamestown again. I’ll need to find something on the way. Three miles out I get a nice thermal and your back to 3000 ft. I almost have Jamestown in range and I’m still in range to get back to Dart Field. I push forward. Another three I am almost out of range of Dart but you get another thermal back to 3000 and Jamestown is made. This is the moment of truth. I keep pushing. I have broken the chains of the airport that I have been afraid to leave for two years. Now you I am truly free. There is good lift along your course to Jamestown. Still no clouds, but I’m making progress. I pass the airport and continue to the south. For the first time I look at my chart. Well, I should be able to get to Randolph Airport. But where is it, I can’t pick it out. I circle aimlessly over the City of Jamestown. What to do? I pick up your cell phone. A quick call back to the clubhouse will see if I can continue. “Hello, Aero Soaring” it’s Tom. “Hey Tom, its Kevin, I’m six miles south of Jamestown. If I try to go somewhere and land in a field can someone come get me?” I say. “Hang on,” he replies. “Hello,” it’s Tim. “Tim, Kevin. I’m six miles of Jamestown.
Will you come get me if I land out?” I ask. “What are you on, a cell phone or something,” he asks. “Yah.” “The trailer is broken, the brakes locked up when we tried to move it last night” he replies. “What about the other one?” I say. “It’s not licensed,” he tells me. Damn, I think to myself. I am locked into a little box of airport hopping. “Ok, I guess I’ll fly around here,” I tell him. “Well try to make it back,” he urges me. “I don’t know if I can. I’ll try though. Bye,” I hang up. So now I must turn around. I head back towards Jamestown after topping out at 4600 ft. Back to the airport with 2000 ft. This is as low as I have been since leaving Dart the second time. The sweat starts to drip faster. All I can find is small bubbles. At home I can fly these, I tell myself. But this is not home. You are nervous. You are going to have to put it down at another airport. You’re down to 1000 ft. Well, I guess I’ll have to put it down here. Where to put it down though? The runways no good it’ll block other traffic. The taxiway looks too small to hold your wingspan. Hey, the ramp is wide open. Only one Cessna at the upwind end. So I make a small pattern for my chosen landing spot. Burp, Burp, Burp. I hit a bubble. I’m at 400 feet. I can get back up! NO! I’m not experienced enough for that. I’m low. I’ve never landed here before. It’s time to set it down. I clear the small hill before the ramp and then put it down less than five feet from the end. A spot landing if I’ve ever seen one. Roll to a stop right in front of the FBO. The face on the lineboy is a look I’ll never forget. He’s thinking ‘What in the world is going on at my airport.’ He comes out the door. “Need some help?” he asks. “Yah, my flights over. Lets put her away and call the tow plane.” “How’d you get it down so quick?” he asks. “Well, simply put, spoilers.” I pop open the spoilers. “Really creates a lot of drag.” I pick up the cell phone and call back to Aero Soaring. “Yes, I’m down at Jamestown., yes, send the tow plane.” 20 minutes later J.J. arrives and I’m home in 20 more.
Epilogue. There is no reason I should have gone down on this day. It was basically inexperience. Since this time I’ve had several other cross countries, and am starting to make better speeds (if you can call a K7 or K8 and 35mph fast). I got home around 2:30. No one else wanted to go flying so we put the planes away while the first clouds were forming overhead. I went home, but it was cu’s like you’d never seen the rest of the day. I should have taken a break and launched a second time around 3:30. Could have been up till after 6, and made it to Jamestown and back a couple times.
